New Delhi: The proposal of the Supreme Court Collegium to transfer Delhi High Court Justice Yashwant Varma to the Allahabad High Court, after ‘sacks of cash’ were allegedly found at his residence, has not gone down well with the Allahabad High Court Bar Association.
A notice issued by the association Friday said it was “taken aback” by the proposal.
“This decision of the collegium of the Supreme Court raises a serious question as to whether the Allahabad High Court is [a] thrash bin (sic)?” asserted the notice marked to the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court and all the high court judges.
The notice further said that the matter had assumed importance because the Allahabad High Court was already short of judges, with no new judges appointed for several years. The association alleged that even while elevating lawyers to judgeship, the bar was never consulted and, hence, the consideration of eligibility “appears to be not up to the mark”.
“Something is lacking which has resulted in corruption and consequently, a great damage has been caused to the ‘public faith in judiciary’,” the association said.
It even relied on observations made by the Supreme Court on the functioning of the court, citing its observation that “something is rotten in Allahabad High Court”.
The communication added: “Presently, we are facing so many problems, particularly [the] shortage of judges, resulting in fresh cases not being heard for months, thereby diminishing the faith of the public in the rule of law, but it does not mean that we are a thrash bin (sic). We are not ready to accept corruption.”
It also alleged a “conspiracy” to divide the Allahabad High Court into parts and, to address this, convened an emergent General House meeting to take a “suitable decision”.
The meeting will be on Monday at 1.15 pm.
“All members are requested to attend the meeting as the matter is about the existence of the judiciary,” the notice said.
However, a press release by the Supreme Court Friday clarified that the proposal for transfer of the judge is still under consideration.
“The proposal was examined by the Collegium comprising of the Chief Justice of India and four senior most Judges of the Supreme Court on 20th March 2025, and thereafter letters were written to the consultee Judges of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justices of the High Courts concerned and Mr. Justice Yashwant Varma,” it said, adding that the responses received will be examined and the Collegium will pass a resolution post that.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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